Assessing hydropower flexibility for integrating solar and wind energy in West Africa using dynamic programming and sensitivity analysis. Illustration with the Akosombo reservoir, Ghana

Danso, Derrick Kwadwo; François, Baptiste; Hingray, B.; Diédhiou, Arona

doi:10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.125559

Cited by 37 publications

(10 citation statements)

References 63 publications

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“…The Ghanaian national policy targets large-scale development of intermittent renewables, and hydropower could be used to provide flexible services 35 . The Akosombo Dam, the largest electricity generation plant in the country, with a capacity of 1,020 MW, regulates the world's largest man-made reservoir based on surface area-the Volta Lake 36 -and currently provides ancillary services (for example, voltage and volt-ampere reactor support, and reserve) to the Ghanaian power system 37 .…”

Section: National-scale Case Study For Ghanamentioning

confidence: 99%

Designing diversified renewable energy systems to balance multisector performance

et al. 2023

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Renewable energy system development and improved operation can mitigate climate change. In many regions, hydropower is called to counterbalance the temporal variability of intermittent renewables like solar and wind. However, using hydropower to integrate these renewables can affect aquatic ecosystems and increase cross-sectoral water conflicts. We develop and apply an artificial intelligence-assisted multisector design framework in Ghana, which shows how hydropower’s flexibility alone could enable expanding intermittent renewables by 38% but would increase sub-daily Volta River flow variability by up to 22 times compared to historical baseload hydropower operations. This would damage river ecosystems and reduce agricultural sector revenues by US$169 million per year. A diversified investment strategy identified using the proposed framework, including intermittent renewables, bioenergy, transmission lines and strategic hydropower re-operation could reduce sub-daily flow variability and enhance agricultural performance while meeting future national energy service goals and reducing CO2 emissions. The tool supports national climate planning instruments such as nationally determined contributions (NDCs) by steering towards diversified and efficient power systems and highlighting their sectoral and emission trade-offs and synergies.

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Section: National-scale Case Study For Ghanamentioning

confidence: 99%

Designing diversified renewable energy systems to balance multisector performance

et al. 2023

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“…Other hydro-energy resources of Ghana include the Lower Pra River Basin and Volta tributaries (Arthur et al 2020). In addition, solar, geothermal and wind energy may be developed to become important energy sources in Ghana (Essandoh-Yeddu 1997, Danso et al 2021, Nuru et al 2021.…”

Section: Područje I Podatcimentioning

confidence: 99%

Geophysical Mapping of Ghana Using Advanced Cartographic Tool GMT

Lemenkova

2022

Kartogr. geoinf. (Online)

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Ghana is a country exceptionally rich in geologic mineral resources with contrasting topographic relief and varied geophysical setting. This paper evaluated the geological and geophysical setting of Ghana with a special focus on the impact of the geologic setting and topography on gravity. Specifically, it assessed how variations in geology, topography, landscapes and the environment control the geophysical parameters and how these vary among the major regions of the country – the Volta Basin, Northern Plains, Ashanti-Kwahu (Kumasi) and Coastal Plains in the Accra surroundings. Previous studies utilizing traditional Geographic Information System (GIS) approaches have documented the geologic evolution of Ghana evolved as a part of the West African Craton. As a contribution to the existing research, this paper presents a regional analysis of Ghana by integrated mapping of geology, geophysics and topography of the country. The technical approach of this research focuses on utilizing the console-based scripting cartographic toolset Generic Mapping Tools (GMT) integrated with QGIS for processing and mapping the datasets: General Bathymetric Chart of the Oceans (GEBCO), Earth Gravitational Model 2008 (EGM-2008), gravity grids. The theoretical background is based on the geologic research of West Africa supported by high-resolution data. The paper defines a conceptual cartographic framework for integrated geologic and geophysical visualization in a regional-scale mapping project on Ghana.

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“…Many studies have investigated the combination of different VRE resources with the aim of reducing imbalances between energy supply and energy demand [12,[42][43][44], reducing the variability of power output [45][46][47], cost optimization [48][49][50][51] and enhancing the stability of the power system [40].…”

Section: Mixing Variable Renewable Energy (Vre) Resourcesmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Impact of Low-Resource Periods on the Reliability of Wind Power Systems for Rural Electrification in Africa

et al. 2021

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Decentralized electricity systems based on variable renewable energy (VRE) sources such as wind power can provide affordable, dependable, and modern energy in a manner consistent with the Paris Agreement. Such sources are, however, sensitive to extreme values of climatic factors—an issue that may jeopardize power system reliability. As a resource-rich region with a high proportion of rural population without access to electricity, Africa has been of wide interest in studies on VRE-based electricity generation. Nevertheless, there is still a major gap in our continent-scale understanding of the wind power potential and its variability at different time scales, as well as the influence of low-wind-resource periods in Africa. Using ERA5 hourly estimates of wind speed, the present study investigated the adequacy and temporal variability of local wind power potential across Africa over the 2000–2017 period. The results indicated that design requirements of wind power systems are, on average, fulfilled in regions in the North, South, and Horn of Africa at different time scales. However, low-resource periods were shown to have a significant impact on the reliability of wind power potential in the majority of the continent. Demand flexibility can reduce the severity of these periods and help to achieve design requirements.

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Assessing hydropower flexibility for integrating solar and wind energy in West Africa using dynamic programming and sensitivity analysis. Illustration with the Akosombo reservoir, Ghana

Cited by 37 publications

References 63 publications

Designing diversified renewable energy systems to balance multisector performance

Designing diversified renewable energy systems to balance multisector performance

Geophysical Mapping of Ghana Using Advanced Cartographic Tool GMT

The Impact of Low-Resource Periods on the Reliability of Wind Power Systems for Rural Electrification in Africa

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